Afghanistan

Debate between Lord Astor of Hever and Lord Wright of Richmond

Wednesday 7th July 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Astor of Hever]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for that question. As I understand it, work on the dam, although it is of a high priority, is now considered a lower priority than other work. It will be taken on, but maybe not for another year or 18 months. However, it is very much in the sights.

[Lord Wright of Richmond]

My Lords, I apologise for speaking when I was not able to be here for the Statement, but is the noble Lord aware that there are two precedents which I think the noble Lord, Lord Myners, and the noble Baroness, Lady Symons, were seeking? One is Aden, which is a very unhappy precedent, and the other is the withdrawal of our forces from the Persian Gulf at the end of 1971. A precise date was given and it actually ended very happily.

[Lord Astor of Hever]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for that history lesson and for being able to think on his feet more quickly than I was able.